Tony Geraghty (born 13 January 1932) is a British-Irish writer and journalist. He served in the Parachute Regiment, and was awarded the

Joint Service Commendation Medal The Commendation Medal is a mid-level United States military decoration presented for sustained acts of heroism or meritorious service. Each branch of the United States Armed Forces issues its own version of the Commendation Medal, with a fifth ...

for his work as a military liaison officer with U.S. forces during the

Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a Coalition of the Gulf War, 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Ba'athist Iraq, ...

. He has been a journalist for ''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

'' and was the '' Sunday Times'' Defence Correspondent in the 1970s. Geraghty was born in Liverpool to an

Irish Catholic Irish Catholics are an ethnoreligious group native to Ireland whose members are both Catholic and Irish. They have a large diaspora, which includes over 36 million American citizens and over 14 million British citizens (a quarter of the Briti ...

family. He was educated at the London Oratory. During the

Falls Curfew The Falls Curfew, also called the Battle of the Falls (or Lower Falls), was a British Army operation during 3–5 July 1970 in the Falls district of Belfast, Northern Ireland. The operation began as a search for weapons in the staunchly Irish ...

in July 1970, while on assignment for the ''Sunday Times'', Geraghty was arrested at gunpoint by a British soldier and charged with impeding the army by being on the street against a military order, which carried an automatic prison sentence on conviction. In September 1970 a magistrate ruled he had no case to answer, and acquitted him. His 1998 book ''The Irish War: The Hidden Conflict Between the IRA and British Intelligence'' was written following research which included interviews with members of

British Intelligence The Government of the United Kingdom maintains intelligence agencies within three government departments, the Foreign Office, the Home Office and the Ministry of Defence. These agencies are responsible for collecting and analysing foreign and d ...

, the security forces, and the Provisional Irish Republican Army. It describes the various tactics, both military and political, used by the protagonists in

the Troubles The Troubles ( ga, Na Trioblóidí) were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it is sometimes described as an " ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. ''Publishers Weekly'' called the book "highly opinionated" but praised "its attention to detail and its direct, potent writing." ''Library Journal'' said " e role of British Intelligence in Ulster has never been so deeply explored". On 3 December 1998 Geraghty's house was searched and he was interviewed by the

Ministry of Defence Police The Ministry of Defence Police (MDP) is a civilian special police force which is part of the United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence. The MDP's primary responsibilities are to provide armed security and counter terrorism services to designated hig ...

and in May 1999, he was charged with breaching section 5 of the Official Secrets Act 1989 on the basis that he quoted from classified army documents in the book. The army was concerned that in mentioning their Caister/Crucible computer intelligence databases for tracking the population of Northern Ireland, and the Vengeful-Glutton number plate recognition and vehicle tracking system, he might have been in possession of copies of the documents. The case was dropped in November 2000. He has written several books on the Special Air Service. ''The Bullet Catchers'' is a history of close protection bodyguards. He is the godfather of magician’s assistant

Debbie McGee Debra Ann McGee (born 31 October 1958) is an English television, radio and stage performer who is best known as the assistant and widow of magician Paul Daniels. McGee is a former ballet dancer and for three years was artistic director of her ...

Books

*''Who Dares Wins: The Story of the Special Air Service, 1950–1980'', 1980, () *''March or Die: A New History of the French Foreign Legion'', 1987, () *''The Bullet Catchers'', 1989, () *'' BRIXMIS: The Untold Exploits of Britain's Most Daring Cold War Spy Mission'', 1997, () *''The Irish War: The Hidden Conflict Between the IRA and British Intelligence'', 1998, () *''Guns for Hire: The Inside Story of Freelance Soldiering'', 2007, ()

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Geraghty, Tony 1932 births English writers English male journalists English people of Irish descent British Parachute Regiment soldiers Living people British Army personnel of the Gulf War Journalists from Liverpool People educated at London Oratory School

Books

See also

References